Amish Country Secret

by Lenora Worth

  Rebecca moved with quiet efficiency around the kitchen, which forced Samantha to do the same.

  After what seemed like hours, the men came back in and Micah shot Samantha a firm frown before washing up at the sink.

  “No one about,” Isaac explained. “People like to look after a storm and some like to see what they can salvage, even if it isn’t theirs to have.”

  Micah didn’t seem convinced. “We did see footprints in a few places, but we’ve had a lot of people tramping around.”

  “What about that man?” Emmie asked as she came back down the stairs, holding Patch.

  “There is no one about,” Micah replied.

  “He tried to harm Samantha,” Emmie said, her voice quivering.

  “I’m okay,” Samantha told Micah’s frightened sister. “I was the last one inside so he tried to scare me. Your brother stopped that.”

  They all sat down, the twins watching the adults with curious attention. Samantha felt the tension hanging like humidity in the room. The night was warm and muggy. She longed for a cool bath and clean clothes. She longed to turn back time. Why had she taken that path the other day?

  “Say your prayers,” Rebecca said, lowering her head and going silent.

  Samantha did the same, respecting the Amish way of speaking to God in silence. That worked for her since she couldn’t blurt out her fears and worries. She did pray that God would protect Micah and his siblings and Isaac and Rebecca.

  They ate the sandwiches and fresh pickles, then had some peach cobbler that one of the single ladies had brought Micah. He barely ate his. Samantha mostly moved hers around on the dish.

  Finally, after he sent Emmie and Jed upstairs and they were having coffee, he turned to Samantha. “You need to tell me exactly what’s going on with you.”

  Isaac motioned to Rebecca. “We should get home and see to our place. Thank you for loaning us a horse and buggy, Micah.”

  “Don’t worry about getting it back until you have yours repaired,” Micah said as he stood. Giving Samantha a warning glance, he said, “I’ll be right back.”

  “Thank you,” she said to Rebecca. “For everything.”

  Rebecca nodded, her eyes full of a silent understanding. “Samantha, if you need a place to stay for a while, our home is open to you.”

  Samantha nodded, too overcome to speak.

  After they’d left, Micah came back into the kitchen, his presence making the big square room shrink. “I need answers, Samantha Herndon.”

  Samantha pushed her cold coffee away. “I know you do.” Looking down at the beautifully worn oak table, she kept talking. “I live in a little town called Winter Lake. I have a clinic there. I’ve had my own practice for a couple of years after interning and later working for another doctor.”

  His frown relaxed, making him appear younger-looking and less concerned. “It’s a good thing Patch found you.”

  She nodded and lowered her head. “He was bad off when I found him. Took him home so I could watch him day and night and got him cleaned up and properly vaccinated. I went back to where I found him to gather evidence.”

  Micah sank down on a chair. “Is that part of your job?”

  “No, I had seen some things that I knew weren’t legally or morally right.”

  She inhaled and for the first time, said it out loud. “My boyfriend, Leon Stanton, is running some sort of smuggling ring.” She didn’t know if she could say anything more about what she’d seen in that massive warehouse.

  Micah’s softened expression changed to shocked, his eyes questioning, his mouth set in a grim line. “How—”

  Before she could continue, Patch barked and hurled down the stairs to run to the back door. The little dog was trembling with fear. Samantha realized Patch was trying to tell them something.

  “He’s warning us,” she said, getting up to glance out a window. “Do you think someone’s still out there?”

  Micah went to the mudroom and returned with his rifle.

  “No, don’t do that,” Samantha said. “It’s not your way.”

  “It is if I need to protect my property and my family,” he said, giving her a gentle push. “Go upstairs and tell the kinder I’m checking the barn again.”

  “Patch, come with me,” she said, knowing it would be useless to argue with Micah now.

  Samantha watched him go out before she ran upstairs to find the siblings huddled in the hallway. “Did you hear?” she asked.

  Emmie took Patch, bobbing her head. “Is that man back?”

  “I don’t think so,” Samantha said, willing it to be true. “The animals are still restless from the storm. It’ll take them a while to settle down.”

  “You know a lot about animals,” Jed said as they all sank down against the wall, Patch jumping from lap to lap.

  “I’m an animal doctor,” she replied. “That’s how I found Patch.”

  “You saved him?” Jed asked, his eyes bright with curiosity.

  “I did.” More than she could ever explain to them. “He’s a brave little dog. A stray lost on an old country road.”

  Patch’s big ears lifted as he listened to the conversation with one ear and waited for Micah to return with the other one.

  Samantha didn’t want to think about Micah not returning. She wanted to run out there and find him, but she couldn’t leave the children. Sitting here, she imagined every sound as someone stalking the property, coming back through the damaged door. The wind hissed and whined and the scant moonlight winked between ominous clouds. Shadows moved over the night.

  “This has been a strange day,” Emmie said, rubbing her nose. “A tornado, a cute dog and you. Now we have bad people roaming around. I miss Daed and Mamm.”

  There was no accusation in the girl’s observations. Samantha felt a dreadful guilt anyway. What if something happened to Micah? “Rebecca told me about your parents. I’m so sorry.”

  Emmie’s expression held a longing. “They were so wonderful gut to us. They are with Gott now.” Then she quickly amended that. “Micah is the best brother. He tells us he likes the quiet, plain life.”

  Samantha’s heart burned for these children. “You know, my grossmammi helped raise me. I love her so much. She likes things quiet and simple, too.” They sat silent, then she said, “I guess you’re not used to this much excitement.”

  Jed laughed. “Neh, the most excitement we have is a birthing or when one of those single women brings us a cake or pie.”

  Samantha had to smile at that. Now she was the curious one. “So you see a lot of single women around here?”

  “Too many,” Jed said on a pragmatic note.

  “They all want to marry Micah,” Emmie said, shrugging. “He says he won’t marry until he knows it’s right.” She put a hand to her chest. “In here—in his heart.”

  Samantha let that sink in, the poignancy of their brother’s declaration touching her in that same spot—her heart. When she thought of how Leon had fooled her that spot shut back up and she held tight against opening it again.

  “He’s picky,” Jed said, his lips twisted. “Or as Rebecca likes to say, his standards are too high.” Shrugging, he lifted Patch up and held him close. “Micah’s still mad ’cause Abby ran off with someone else.”

  Emmie rolled her eyes. “She didn’t like Jed and me.”

  Samantha’s heart hurt for all of them. Micah was a handsome, concerned man and these two were the sweetest preteens she’d ever met. “Well, Micah loves both of you from what I’ve seen,” she said. “So he wants things to be good for both of you, too.”

  “I’m glad he’s not in a hurry,” Jed admitted. “Some of the women who come visiting are mean and bossy.”

  Emmie bobbed her head. “We heard one telling him that he should send us to live with our relatives in Indiana.”

  Jed giggled. “
Micah showed her the door real quick. He kept the pie she brought and fed it to the hogs.”

  Samantha’s nerves tingled even while she laughed and tried to keep the twins talking. She was getting worried. What had Micah found in the barn?

  * * *

  Micah made his way through the alley between the stalls, the darkness casting shadows. Every creak or twitch had him spinning on his brogans to see if anyone was lurking about. The horses and cows were safe even if they did still act jumpy and nervous. Outside, the goats seemed jittery in their corral on the back side of the barn and, farther out, the hogs grunted like they did on any given day.

  Working his way along the stalls and corners, he felt the same way. His whole routine had gone off-kilter because of the tornado and because of Samantha. What was he supposed to do about her? Maybe he should have sent her home with Rebecca and Isaac. Only that would have possibly put them in danger.

  When he heard a rustling near the front of the barn, he headed that way. A shadow moved. Someone took off toward the open door.

  “Hey, what do you want?” he shouted, hurrying after the intruder.

  Whoever it was, they kept running away.

  “I will shoot you if you return,” he called, his shotgun aimed into the night.

  The shadow ran toward the road and disappeared.

  Micah went back to Samantha’s car, thinking it would take a couple of plow horses and some strong helpers to get this car out of the field. He wasn’t sure it would even crank. Pulling out his pocket flashlight so he could see better, he noticed right away that someone had been in the car. Deep footprints left muddy impressions in the dirt around the vehicle. Some of them could be his, but his feet weren’t as big as these shoeprints indicated.

  The dashboard compartment was open, papers spilling out, and the seats had been moved, their backs popped down. A few books and papers in the back had been shuffled and flung here and there.

  When Micah heard what sounded like twigs breaking in the woods to the west, he understood why Patch had alerted them. Someone had been snooping and probably had stayed hidden in the woods the whole time since the tornado, waiting to get back to Samantha’s car. The man who’d tried to enter the house earlier might have also gone through the car. Glad the women and Emmie and Jed had gotten away and that Samantha had fought him away for now, Micah figured someone would keep coming.

  She’d said the man wanted her back. Why had they searched her car? What had they been looking for and why had they risked coming back?

  He checked all around and noticed a different set of footprints moving from the car to where some of the hay had been trampled all the way into the tree line, leaving a flat green path of big shoe prints. He considered shooting into the air, but that would scare the animals and the twins, and wake some of the neighbors.

  All he could do now was hurry back to the house and hope no one had managed to sneak back there ahead of him. Those two men in the truck were obviously well enough to keep skulking around his land. He should have asked Jeremiah for some advice. That truck could prove the men tried to run Samantha off the road.

  Deciding he had to be sure, he headed to where Jeremiah had said they’d last seen the pickup. He could vouch for Samantha if he saw the truck with his own eyes. Breathless from running, he flashed his light down into the hollowed-out ditch.

  The truck was still there, banged up and lying on one side. One of the doors lay open and yawning. The men could have crawled out that way. When his light flashed on something dark on the open door, he hopped down and went closer.

  The remains of what looked like a bloody handprint on the inside of the door. And more blood on both seats. The dampness had smudged the prints. The ruby-red brightness ran stark against the beige interior of the fancy truck.

  These men were hurt yet they’d still managed to trespass on into the woods. They might hide out there until someone picked them up. They could have easily sneaked into the field to search the car.

  Or it could have been the Kemp boys looking for money or anything else to entertain themselves. Their father had died when they were preteens and their mamm had a hard time controlling the two wayward teens.

  Micah hurried back along the road. He could go to the phone booth and call for help, but that was a half mile down the road and people would see him and wonder what was wrong, or offer help. He wasn’t ready to explain all of this yet.

  Glancing back at his house, he decided he couldn’t take that chance. He wouldn’t leave the twins and Samantha alone and unprotected. After he got the twins settled again, Micah planned to hear the rest of Samantha Herndon’s story. Because he had a dreadful feeling that there was so much more to her ordeal than she’d been able to tell him, and he needed to hear it all before he decided what he could do to help her.

  Or get her away from his family.

  SIX

  Samantha heard the door open and hopped up to run downstairs. “Stay here with Patch,” she told the twins.

  They scooted to the top of the stairs, Patch between them as they watched her almost collide with Micah.

  “Are you all okay?” he asked, looking from her to the twins.

  “We’re fine. What about you? Did you see anyone?”

  Glancing at the twins, he said, “I’ll be back so we can talk.”

  He headed up the stairs. “Let’s get you both back to your rooms.”

  “Did that man return?” Emmie asked, a thread of fear in her words. “Are you and Samantha going to have an adult discussion?”

  “The man wasn’t out there.” Micah gave Samantha a fleeting glance over his shoulder. “I didn’t find anyone and the animals are safe.” Then, “Ja, we are going to have an adult discussion. While you two go to sleep.”

  Jed didn’t seem convinced. Samantha heard his voice echoing down the stairs while he held Patch close. “Patch is a gut watchdog, ain’t so? I think he heard someone.”

  Micah didn’t argue with his brother. “Patch is smart to be so small.”

  Emmie asked, “Are you going to send Samantha away like you do all the other women?”

  Micah didn’t answer that question, but Samantha knew the answer already. He’d want her out of his home.

  The voices drifted off so Samantha went to the kitchen and found the tea tin, Micah’s steel-etched look from before still on her mind. She took the heavy kettle and drew water from the kitchen sink, then turned to heat it on the propane-fueled stove. Funny, how such everyday tasks returned to her now that she was back in Campton Creek. This house was a little more modernized than Gramma’s. It still remained simplistic and stark in its plainness, however.

  While she waited for the water to boil, she placed tea bags in two mugs and wondered what she should do now. Micah would want the whole story and that could make things even more dangerous for him and the twins. Once she told him, she’d need to leave. Immediately.

  She would have to find a way to get out of here and keep moving. She needed to get in touch with Dorothea soon. Her assistant would be worried. Maybe over the weekend, Dorothea could come and get her and they’d work up a plan on how to handle her practice. The authorities would want to question Samantha since everyone in town knew she dated Leon.

  That brought another realization. How could she keep her practice open now? Leon had taken over her mortgage—a Christmas gift to her, he’d explained when she’d protested. That meant he owned the building she leased. He would destroy her if she tried to go back to Winter Lake. She had to make sure he was arrested and put away. She might have to start all over again somewhere else.

  When the kettle started whistling she went back to the stove and turned off the heat. She turned back to the window. Something outside caught her eye.

  A flash of light up on the road.

  Was someone still out there, watching this house? Waiting until they all went to bed? She hadn�
��t had a chance to check her purse or her overnight bag. She didn’t think anyone would have come near her car in the light of day.

  Micah had been thoughtful in bringing her things inside. He had no way of knowing she’d been gathering evidence before she’d had to flee.

  She studied the darkness and decided she’d imagined seeing that yellowish orb floating in the night. Neighbors could still be out searching for animals or family.

  “What are you doing?”

  Samantha whirled so fast, she almost knocked one of the mugs off the counter. “Oh, you startled me.”

  Micah moved closer. “Did you see someone out there again?”

  The weariness in his question hit her in her stomach. “No. I mean I was staring out the window, wondering how I can find a way to leave. I won’t continue to put you and the twins in danger.”

  “Too late for that,” he said, eying the tea with a grimace. “Someone was lurking in the barn, but he ran away. And I don’t drink hot tea.”

  Shock caused Samantha to stop and stare at him. “I could make fresh coffee.” Her suggestion echoed through the taut silence. “I’m sorry. I’m relieved you weren’t hurt, going out there alone. Would you like something to eat? Some lemonade?”

  “Neh. I want you to sit down and tell me everything. And I mean everything. Then, together we will come up with a plan because I’m in this now. These people have come onto my property at least three times in one night, if I count the footsteps I heard right after the storm.”

  Samantha took her chamomile tea and sank down on a chair. “I didn’t have any idea that Leon was so corrupt and so cruel. If I hadn’t found Patch lost and wandering along the road where I usually get some exercise, I would have found out much too late.”

  Micah’s head came up. “Too late?”

  She nodded, holding her mug close, the warmth giving her courage. “Leon had proposed to me. We’d planned to get married later this year.”